May One Monthly Goal Progress

Happy Memorial Day if you live in the states.  It's been a nice, relaxing weekend here.  It's supposed to rain off and on here today, so it's a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time in my sewing room.  My Guy is hoping to fit in a bike ride sometime today between storms.  Not sure that is going to happen. 

I've been participating in the One Monthly Goal over at Red Letter Quilts since January of this year.  

Committing to just one goal each month has helped me make progress in some key areas, mainly in getting quilts done.  But this month my goal was to actually start a project.  Usually that's not a problem, but Drama Teen asked for 4 graduation quilts to be done by next May.  These are for her best buds and one teacher.  Which means I'm sewing for someone specifically.  I always struggle with projects that are for a specific person.  It's two fold, I want the right pattern and the right fabrics. It often takes me a while to come up with both.  This month's goal was to actually start on the blocks for the Zombies in Paris quilt.  That meant getting all the fabrics washed and prepped, finalizing the design and actually getting some blocks made.  

Here's the final pattern:

Zombies in Paris by Kate

And here's the first 6 blocks:

The solid hearts are a really deep purple.  For some reason that color is just hard to photograph in my sewing room.  So I've met my goal of getting a good start on this project.  This one should go pretty fast as the blocks are 12" finished.  The letters will take some time, but I've already got a start on those.  

I'm 5 for 5 on meeting my One Monthly Goals.  Many thanks to Heidi for hosting this challenge.  It's been a great motivator for me. 

Linking up with 
May OMG at Red Letter Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts
Monday Design Wall at Patchwork Times

May Let's Book It Update and a Stash Management Report

We got an early start to the day, Drama Teen had a flight to catch at 7:00 AM.  With the hour drive from here, that meant setting the alarm to 4 AM.  So we were out the door early. My Guy and I stayed in Tulsa for breakfast, but then headed home. June is going to be our "empty nest" practice month.  DT has two other trips the month of June, so we won't be seeing much of her over the next 4 weeks. 

Sharon over at Vroomans Quilts encourages everyone to use those patterns and books we all collect by sponsoring the Let's Book It Challenge.  I've been following along with the challenge since she started it, but I've been working on the same pattern the whole time.   Poinsettias has been my leaders and enders project the last couple of years.  This month I finished off the final block and have made a start on the sashing.  Here's where the project is now.  

Poinsettias
By Judy Blok for the December 2013 issue
of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine

This one should be a finished flimsy before the end of the year.  I'm really pleased with how it's turning out. 

May has been a really good month for stitching even though, I don't have much to show for fabric going out.  My efforts to spend at least 15 minutes in the sewing room each day was a success.

Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:  7 days out of 7
Days in May:  25 out of 28 days
Days this year:  124 out of 149

But since most of what I'm working is small blocks, there's not much going out for the week:

Used last week:  0.76 yards
Used year to date:  27.43 yards
Purchased year to date:  25.75 yards
Net used for 2016:  1.68 yards

I'm in the black by just a bit.  The plan for this afternoon is to finish the borders on Allietare, then find some backing fabric in the stash.  Don't know that the backing will hit the outgoing stash numbers this week, but it will soon. That will be a nice boost on the black side of the line.  

Linking up with Let's Book It Challenge over at Vroomans Quilts and the Stash Report over at Patchwork Times.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Starting Green

This week seemed to go on forever.  My Guy woke up Wednesday thinking it was Saturday.  In part it's been that Drama Teen is home since school is out. Plus with the holiday weekend a lot of people took off the last part of the week, so it was almost like a ghost town, especially on Friday.  I had meetings that couldn't be moved, so no early holiday for me.  

I've had time to stitch most evenings this week so you'd think I'd have something to show for it.  Those Vintage Dress blocks take a while to assemble. I tried to get one finished up last night, but we had plans.  All I have to show this week is the fabric selections for the green dresses.

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

The bright green on the left is working up nicely.  It's going to be a very bright dress.  I haven't started on the gingham dress yet.  I decided you really couldn't have a vintage dress quilt without at least one gingham dress.  Hopefully it will make up as pretty as the previous dresses have been. 

For those in the US, enjoy your holiday weekend.  We have no plans for the weekend.  Just going to catch up on stuff around the house and hopefully get some stitching done.  Though I'm pretty sure there will be a trip to Tulsa in there somewhere.  

Now it's time for a second cup of coffee and a peak at all other green scrappy blocks over at Soscrappy.  

WIPs: Progress and a Plan

It's the rainy season in Oklahoma.  We lucked out last night and all the nasty storms went south of us.  But we got hit with a doosy of a pop up thunderstorm just a bit ago.  The lighting and thunder were impressive.  According to the forecast, it's going to be intermittently stormy all day.  Today is also Drama Teen's last day of school before summer break.  After today, she'll be a senior in high school.  Wow, where did all those years go?   She'll be playing host to 3 other girls this afternoon for her annual "Last Day of School Watch TV and Veg" party.  Which means I'll be spending most of my evening in the sewing room.  Works for me. 

I've been in the sewing room most nights the last week so you'd think I'd have gotten more done on the Zombies quilt, but I only added one block to the collection up on the design wall. 

Zombies in Paris, self designed

The seam ripper spent a lot of time with that black and pink block, the framing strips got added in the wrong spots so they had to come off and be restitched in the right positions.  But there are two more blocks under construction at the sewing machine, so there will much more progress this week.   

Well maybe not.  Lea over Podunk Pretties has a sew along and linky party to go along with her latest tutorial, Back Porch Blooms.  I've been slowly re-organizing the sewing closet and last weekend came across a stash of red and blue 1930 reproduction fabrics bought many years ago for a BOM.  They'd be perfect for a project using that block.  This project is not on my 2016 Quilt Plan, but oh it's so tempting.  I gave in to temptation just enough to do some mock ups in EQ.  There's a very red version:

Flower Blocks are Back Porch Blooms by Lea Anne Brummett of Podunk Pretties
Quilt setting is self designed. 

  

And a very blue version:

Flower Blocks are Back Porch Blooms by Lea Anne Brummett of Podunk Pretties
Quilt setting is self designed. 

Lea showed off her butterfly blocks yesterday and I knew if I figured out how to add a few to my project, I'd be a goner.  So since we have a 3 day weekend and Allietare should make it to a finished flimsy stage before them, I'm going to dig out all the 1930 yardage and scraps to make one these quilts.  I'm leaning towards the blue one, but I have more red yardage.  Decisions, decisions!  

Linking up this week with 
Let's be Social over at So Fresh Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday over at Esther's Quilt Blog
Needle and Thread Thursday over at My Quilt Infatuation 

Weekend Stitching - A Border Shy

It was a nice relaxing weekend. Some housework got done and the laundry was tamed a bit.  But the best part was the time spent in the sewing room.  Progress was made on several projects.  Unfortunately,  the seam ripper made a few appearances over the course of the weekend.  So there wasn't as much progress as there could of been. I had hoped to have Allietare to the finished flimsy stage, but stopped a couple of borders shy.  I always underestimate how long it takes to add borders.  

 Allietare,  Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt

My border choices were a little limited, there wasn't enough of the red left for the narrow border and not enough of the dark blue for the outer border.  I had planned at the beginning to use the black as the border, but scratched that idea once the top was all assembled. All that's left is the top and bottom border.  I should get those added this week.  

Linking up with 
Main Crush Monday over at Cooking Up Quilts
Monday Making over at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times

Stash Management - Week 21 of 2016

It's been a nice weekend so far.  Still have some house cleaning to do this morning.  Drama Teen is having her annual last day of school "veg out in front of the TV" party for her friends on Wednesday.  They have finals the last three days, with calculus and chemistry on the last day.  We're likely to come home and find all 4 or 5 of them out cold.  But before then, the living room needs some attention.  Mount Laundry still needs to be conquered.  It won't get conquered, but I'll probably get a good bit of it scaled down before I go sew for a bit this afternoon.  

It was a really good week for spending time in the sewing room.  This year I've been trying to get in at least 15 minutes of stitching every day.  I achieved that goal this week. 


Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:  6 days
Days in May:  18 out of 21 days
Days this year:  117 out of 14

With all the time in the sewing room you'd think there would be more fabric out the door, but most of what I'm working on is small blocks.  They don't add up very quickly. 

Used last week:  1.04 yards
Used year to date: 26.67 yards
Purchased year to date:  25.75 yards
Net used for 2016:  0.92 yards 

At least I'm back in the black after being in the red last week.  

I've been slowly reorganizing the fabric closet.  In that process, I came across my stash of 1930 reproduction fabrics that was acquired as part of a BOM back in 2007.  I way over bought for that project.  I've made one other quilt from that stash and still have a bunch of yardage left even after finishing those two quilts. 

In addition to all this yardage, there are lots of fat quarters still hanging around as well.  

Where am I going with this?   I'm trying to come up with a justification to deviate from my quilt plan.  Lea Anne, who blogs at Podunk Pretties, posted a tutorial the other day called Back Porch Blooms.  I've long admired Lea Anne's bright, beautiful quilts and this block is no exception. She's going to share three projects based on the block.  But she's also supportive of seeing what you do with the block.  This is just too much temptation and I have fabric that really needs to be moved out of the fabric closet.  So I've got a plan drafted in EQ and hope to make a start on it this week.  Hopefully with a holiday weekend next week I can get enough done to have something to show on her linky party planned for June 6th.  

That's it for me this week.  You can find more tales of stash management over at Patchwork Times.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Ready to Play with Green

We were all ready to see Friday evening come around.  It's been one of those long weeks, but considering how a few things might of worked out, it wasn't a bad week.  Looking back it's kinda funny now.  It involved a trip to the dermatologist for me to remove a spot from my leg that thankfully ended up not being skin cancer.  My guy didn't want me driving afterwards since we weren't sure how invasive the procedure was going to be, he dropped me off and Drama Teen was going to pick me up on her way home from the gym.  The timing on this worked out really well.  But when I texted DT that I was done, this is the text I got back.

We suspect someone either let the air out of her tire or she ran over something in the parking lot at school.  Turns out her best friend that always parks next to her, had an almost flat tire by the time she got home that night.  The tire looks so bad because DT drove on it while it was flat.  My Guy was absolutely incredulous that she didn't notice anything while she was driving.  Of course she was in town, driving at low speeds as most of the drive to the gym means she's driving in school zones.  This could have been really bad had she been on the highway on her way home after school.  It was definitely a teachable moment on a lot of fronts.  Thankfully the tire place in town is only a couple of blocks from where the car was parked.  But DT was without a car for a day since they were closing when we got it there.  

Thankfully there's been no drama in the sewing room.  I got a lot done this week.  The second orange dress is done.  

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

This one is definitely a summer dress, something to wear to a picnic.  Your date definitely wouldn't loose you in a crowd if you were wearing this dress.  But I like it, it's definitely bright and fun.  

So both orange dresses are done.

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

One dress shows off the yellow oranges and the other the red oranges. These two bring the total of finished blocks up to 8.  I couldn't resist putting all the completed dresses up on the design wall. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

I'll definitely need to add a couple of lighter dresses, but I think the darker end is pretty well covered.  This has been such a fun project.  My paper piecing skills have greatly improved over the last 5 months.  Now to go pick out the fabrics for this month's green dresses.  Maybe I'll actually get those done before June gets here.   

I'm linking up with Angela over at Soscrappy for this Saturday's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the green blocks everyone else has finished this week.  

WIPs - Progress on a New Project

It's been awhile since there's been a post to link up with the mid week "Works in Progress" posts.  Generally, there's just not that much progress in my sewing room to write another post after Monday's. But I finally got started on a new project this month.  The blocks are 12.5", so they go together fairly quickly.  Here's the progress so far:

The hearts are a really dark purple and all three are the same color.  The lighting in my sewing room is really bad for capturing dark colors.  These are the first three blocks for the Zombies in Paris quilt.

This is the first of four graduation quilts that has to be finished before May of 2017.  Thankfully, this one should go pretty quickly since the blocks are so large.  All the fabric has been purchased for the second graduation quilt, but I'm hoping to finish this one before I start on another new project.  

Linking up this week to

Let's Bee Social
WIPs on Wednesday
Needle and Thread Thursday

Weekend Stitching: Ready for Borders

Drama Teen and I had a very nice weekend.  Since the Pentatonix concert kept us from visiting my Mom last weekend, we went this weekend.  We shopped till we dropped, plus had fun visiting with my Mom, my sister and my niece.  We tried Pho for the first time, and managed to fit in a visit to Krispy Kreme and IHop.  Two of DT's most favorite places to eat.  My Guy stayed home to ensure the attic was indeed squirrel free. He was very glad to see us pull into the driveway late yesterday morning.  So far so good on being squirrel free.  

Not a lot of stitching this weekend, but I did get in enough stitching time to get the two halves of Allietare sewn together, the corners added and corners of the setting triangles trimmed up.  It's now ready for borders. 

  Allietare,  Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt

 I've got the first set of border strips cut, they just need to sewn together and fit to the quilt.  I'm hoping to have this to the finished flimsy stage by the end of next weekend.  It would be nice to get this Bonnie Hunter mystery finished before the next one starts in November.  

Linking up with:

Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall  

Stash Management - Week 20 of 2016

Drama Teen and I shopped till we dropped, literally.  We both laid down and took a 3 hour nap after lunch.  We didn't really make up any on the sleep front as we stayed up till midnight hanging out with family.  It's back home today, where I hope to get in some time in the sewing room before it's time to go to bed and start another work week.  DT is lucky, she's got Monday off.  

A couple of fun packages arrived this week. The Midnight Mystery quilt came back from Trudy, all quilted and ready to bind.  So that's on tap for this week.  A much smaller package arrived from Sharon of Vroomans Quilts.  

I won last month's give away for the Let's Book It Challenge.  I love the little charm and the road trip beetle. Thank you Sharon.  

Now for this week's stash report.  I did buy fabric.  It's the background fabric for one of the graduation quilts that needs to be done by next May.  I just didn't have any gray in the stash that would work.  Here's the damage:

Used last week:  0.35 yards
Used year to date:  25.63 yards
Purchased this week:  8 yards
Purchased this year:  25.75 yards
Net stashed for 2016:  0.12 yards

I'm in the red for the first time since 2014.  But it's not so bad that I can't dig out this week with just a little time spent in the sewing room. I knew there would be fabric purchases this year to make these quilts and I'm OK with that.  The fabric for the graduation quilts should back out this year.  There are two mystery quilts in my plans for this year that I plan to use only stash fabrics for.   

It wasn't a bad week for finding time to stitch at least 15 minutes each day. 

Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:  5 days
Days in May:  11 out of 14 days
Days this year:  110 out of 135

It's just unrealistic with my schedule to expect to get into the sewing room every day.  I'm happy with how it's going this year. 

That's it on the stash management front.  There's more about stash management over at Judy's Patchwork Times.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Vintage Dresses - How I Paper Piece

It's cold and overcast here this morning.  Drama Teen and I are in the big city to do some shopping today, so no stitching for me till tomorrow.  Though I do get Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast this morning, so it's not all bad.  

I don't have much progress on the Vintage Dresses to post for today, but a couple of weeks ago Diane, who blogs at Quilting is Blissful, asked me to show how I was prepping my fabric pieces for paper piecing.  She thought it looked different than how she's seen it done before.  I've never taken a class in paper piecing, so my methods are taken from a hodgepodge of quilting books and YouTube videos.  I have no idea if it's proper or not, but the system works for me.  

Here's the starting point for orange dress number 2:

Moving left to right, the fabric for the dress, the paper piecing pattern, and "templates" cut from a "sacrificial" copy of the paper piecing pattern. I keep the colored fabric templates separate from the white background pieces using Ziploc bags.  It just makes it easier for me to be sure I get all the pieces on the right fabric. Some of the pieces for these dresses are very tiny.  

I'll lay out all the pieces that need to be cut close to the fabric I'm using.  I place the fabric right side down and then lay the templates facing up, so that I'm cutting the pieces so the right side of the fabric faces away from the front of the paper pattern pieces.  

The background fabric might not have been the best choice to show this, but it's what I've got pictures of.  You'll note that some of my templates have a seam allowance included and some don't.  I'm too lazy to retrace all these pieces (there are 4 dresses and I'd much rather sew).  So to cut each piece, I'll add 1/8" to a side with the seam marked and cut there.  

 If it is a side that doesn't include the seam allowance, I move the ruler out 3/8" inch.  

I add the extra 1/8" to be sure I've got a little extra to work with when assembling the pattern. My pieces aren't always exactly cut to the shape, it depends on the scrap of fabric I'm working on, I'm not above taking cutting off the odd chunk of fabric for one of the smaller pieces without cutting each side to fit the piece. Ensuring that the piece is big enough to cover all the seam allowances is really all I worry about.  Once all my pieces are cut, I pile them in one of my white baskets so they don't get lost on my sewing table. I keep the template with the piece until it's been added to the paper pattern.  Then the templates go back into the Ziploc bag.  

When it's time to start sewing each section of the paper pattern, I center the fabric piece on the pattern, ensuring that the fabric overlaps each seam by at least a 1/4" and then pin it in place.  Then I'll turn back the pattern along the seam to be sewn and trim the seam allowance to 1/4".  

Then I line up the next piece along the cut edge, right sides together, then fold the pattern over the new piece to be sure that there is enough fabric sticking out on each edge to cover the seam allowances.  I forgot to get a picture of that step, but I think you can get the idea.  Once I'm sure the piece is aligned properly, I pin and stitch. 

Unfortunately there hasn't been much stitching on Vintage Dresses this week.  Hopefully, I'll have a finished dress to show off next week.  I will get to sew tomorrow.  But for now I need to get Drama Teen moving so we can go get our sugar high before we head off to the mall.  

You can find lots of green scrappy goodness over at Soscrappy.  Hopefully I'll actually have some green scrap dresses to show off before we hit the end of the month. 

Weekend Stitching: Just Two Pieces

Even with Friday off the weekend just isn't long enough.  Yesterday was relaxing as most of the day was spent stitching.  It rained in the morning and looked like we'd get more all afternoon.  So a perfect day in the sewing room. The only downer was the discovery that My Guy didn't drive all the squirrels out of the attic before he re-screened all the vents.  We didn't find that out till Sunday morning when the straggler made quite a racket in the ceiling during breakfast.  So it was off to Tractor Supply for a trap.  He's a smart little thing, he's not taken the bait yet.  Though he's been up there since Friday morning with no food or water, not sure how much longer he can survive.  Our biggest concern is the electrical wiring, they'd already nibbled a good length of it over our entry way.  But we can't get that fixed till we get the last one out.

On the sewing front, Allietare has been sewn into two halves. 

 Allietare,  Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt

 It should be a whole top by the end of next weekend.  Not sure I'll get the borders on it though.  Drama Teen and I have shopping plans next weekend.  She has a writing camp, a journalism workshop and a journalism conference to attend in June.  She'll need professional looking attire for the conference, plus she'll probably need shorts and such as well.  So we are making plans for a fun girls day in the city.  

Linking up with:
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Stash Management - Week 19 of 2016

Happy Mother's Day!  Mine got off to a bit of a late start, I slept in this morning.  Not because it was Mother's Day, but because Drama Teen kept me out  way past my bedtime last night.  DT conned me into buying tickets to see Pentatonix early this year.  They are amazing live, so I'm glad we went.

My plan for today is to spend some significant time in my sewing room watching movies and stitching.  A one day solo retreat. It's my family's Mother's Day gift to me.  But before I head up to get comfortable for the day, it's time to look at last week's stash and time management progress.  

Not much going out last week.  I've been sewing Allietare together and the only fabric going out has been the setting triangles.  

Used last week:  0.43 yards
Used year to date:  25.28 yards
Purchased year to date:  17.75 yards
Net used for 2016:  7.53 yards  

The yardage going out will pick up a bit when I add the borders and make the backing for Allitare.  That should happen in the next two weeks.   

On the time management front, I did a pretty good job of getting  into the sewing room most days this week. 

Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:   6 days
Days in May:  6 out of 7
Days this year:  105 out of 128

It's amazing how much gets done even with just 15 minutes a night in the sewing room.  Granted usually it ends up being more than just 15 minutes.  But those short sessions of cutting fabrics, pinning pieces and stitching seams during the week really do add up.  

Wishing you an amazing Mother's Day.  Now I'm off to enjoy mine.  
Linking up with Judy over at Patchwork Times for the weekly stash report.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Still Playing Catch Up

It's been an interesting week full of ups and downs.  My Guy and I took a day off yesterday not so much because we wanted to, but because we really needed to.  We had squirrels in the attic.  The starlings had torn up the screens that were on one of the vents and the squirrels found their way in via that entrance.  So My Guy spent the morning crawling around the attic putting up new screens. I stayed in the walk in part of the attic and handed him tools, screening etc.  The temps here were in the 70's by mid morning, so the attic wasn't steaming hot, but it was pretty warm.  

We did get to enjoy the afternoon, which mainly consisted of a nap for both of us.  But I did eventually wander into the sewing room late in the day.  I put the final seams into the first orange Vintage Dress block. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

I like how it turned out.  Orange is not my color, it makes be look ill, so I wouldn't be wearing this dress.  I would certainly admire it on someone else.   The central panel was fussy cut to capture the flowers in the center of the skirt.  The paper piecing is getting easier, I've got a much better idea how to line up the seams now.  The second orange dress should go fast, it's the dress with the fewest pieces.  So hopefully there will be a green dress or maybe even two finished before the end of the month.  

Linking up with Angela at Soscrappy for this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

Weekend Stitching - Allietare Progress

Weekends are never long enough it seems. I didn't do much sewing on Saturday as Drama Teen needed some help getting ready for prom and then we spent the early evening taking prom pictures of all her friends and their dates.  Everybody looked so cute, and so grown up, including Drama Teen.  I posted a picture of her dress yesterday, but this is a much better picture of her.  

So Saturday was a bit of a bust for sewing room time, but there was significant sewing time on Sunday.  Allietare is well on it's way to being a finished flimsy.

 Allietare,  Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt

Blocks in the first 4 rows have been sewn together.  The blocks kept falling off the design wall, so all that's up there now is the blocks that are sewn together. I'm pretty happy with how this project is turning out.  It's my favorite Bonnie Hunter Mystery to date, well at least of the ones I've made.   

The other thing I did on Sunday was finalize the layout for the Zombies in Paris project.  

Zombies in Paris

Starting on this project is my One Monthly Goal for May.  It needs to be done by next May and since there are three other graduation quilts to make, I'd best get busy.  I just need to wash and press the pink Zombie Love fabric, then I'll be all ready to start cutting and sewing.  

Linking up with:
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

May One Monthly Goal

Hard to believe it's already May.  Just a few short weeks and Drama Teen is done with her junior year of high school.  Hard to believe we've only got one more year before she heads off to college.  There will be a lot of college planning to do this summer.  Thankfully, all I have to decide on at the moment is what will be my May goal for the One Monthly Goal Challenge.  Heidi at Red Letter Quilts is hosting this very helpful challenge to pick one goal each month and see it through.  

So far I'm three for three.  I'm not sure what May is going to look like.  There may be a couple of weekend trips in there. Since weekends are my prime sewing time, I don't want to be too ambitious.  Looking at what's on my quilting plan, I really need to start stitching on next year's graduation quilts.  I've got all the fabric for the planned Zombies in Paris quilt, but it's not all washed and pressed.  Plus I'm still dithering about the pattern. This month's goal will be to decide on the pattern and start making the blocks.  I should be able to handle just getting started even if I'm out of the sewing room a lot this month.  

This was the original plan.

Adapted from the pattern Bird's-Eye View, designed by Jackie Robinson of AnimasQuilts.com
Published in the December 2015 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting

But I'm not loving that plain center block. It needs something.  After playing around in EQ, this is what the project has morphed into. 

Drama Teen likes this layout.  I'm still not sure about all the fabrics and the block placement, but I think we are using this pattern as the base for the final quilt.  DT has some very unique and one of a kind friends.  She assures me that this pattern is absolutely perfect for the intended recipient.  Though we may have to change the name of the quilt to Zombie Love.

Stash Management Week 18 of 2016

I'm a bit groggy this morning having stayed up a later than normal last night waiting for Drama Teen to get home from the prom.  She certainly looked pretty last night.  

I finally went to bed after she came home to change for the after prom party.  I'm not sure what time she finally got in for the night, I do know it was pretty late. She has her first advanced placement test tomorrow morning, so prom was the last bit of fun before she has to buckle down and study for exams and finals. 

There was some late night sewing  last night while I was waiting for DT to get home.  It boosted the outgoing numbers for the week just a bit. 

Used last week: 0.95 yards
Used in April:  7.67 yards
Used year to date:  24.85 yards
Purchased year to date:  17.75 yards
Net used for 2016:  7.10 yards 

Not a stellar week for stash busting, but most of what I'm sewing are small blocks.  I'm in the process of assembling Allietare.  The borders and backing for that project should help boost the yardage going out in the coming weeks. 

I've also been keeping track of how many days each week I make it to the sewing room for at least 15 minutes.  The more of that I do, the more stitching that gets done.  Last week was a good one on that front. 

Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:  7 days
Days in April:  24 days out of 30
Days this year:  99 out of 121

I didn't spend much time stitching yesterday, most of the afternoon was spent working on the design for one of the graduation quilts.  The fabric placement just needs some tweaking before I can start drafting the instructions for the blocks.  That's the plan for this afternoon. 

You can find more stash management posts over at Judy's Patchwork Times.